Switch-shifter



.(No Model.)

3 SheetsSheet 1.

E. D. STEWART,

SWITCH SHIPTER.

Patented June 2,1891.

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No. 453,250. v

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E. D. STEWART.

SWITCH SHIFTER Patented June 2,1891.

UNITED, STATES PATENT Orrrcn.

EDGAR D. STEYVART, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

SWlTCH- SHIFTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 453,250, dated June 2, 1891.

Application filed December 24, 1890. Serial No. 375.750. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDGAR D. STEWART, a citizen of the United States, residing at Newark, Essex county, New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Switch-Shifters, fully described and represented in thefollowing specification and the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the same. I

This invention relates to aparticular means of operating a switch-shifting device for street-cars, consisting, primarily,in a handle mounted over the platform of the car and provided with a grooved cam and a cord attached to the longer side of the cam and extended to the shifting-arm.

The invention will be understood by reference to the annexed drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a car provided with my improvement. Fig. 2 is a plan of the track with a portion of the switchshifting attachments and a dotted outline representing the body of the car. Fig. 3 is a vertical section of the pit by the side of the track with the switch-shifter therein. Fig. 4 is a cross-section at the right hand end of such pit. Fig. 5 is a plan of the pit with the cover and the treadles removed. Fig. 6 is an elevation of the car-platform viewed from the inner side. Fig. 7 is an elevation of the box carrying the actuating-handles and their connections to the bottom of the platform, with its cover removed. Fig. 8 is a plan of the same, and Fig. 9 is 'a cross-section where hatched of the same on line 00 a: in Fig. 7.

A is the body of thecar; B, the platform; 0, the dash-board; E, the rails of the main track; F, the turn-out, and G the switchpoint.

H is the cover of the pit at the side of the track, in which two openings are shown'condirection. The arms 66 are pivoted upon the frame of the car and actuated by connections I) with handles 0, which are shown herein mounted upon a box (I, attached to one side of the dash-board O. The arms a are hinged by pivots e to the frame of the car and are provided at their ends with rollers f, one of which is shown in contact with the treadle I in Fig. 1. The springs 9 hold the lever-arm normally raised with the rolls f clear of the track, and the movement of the handle 0 0pcrates to turn the lever downward and to press the roller f toward the track in a line with the treadle as the car approaches the same. I attach a spirally-grooved cam h to each of the levers c and wind a cord 1) upon the cam, connecting the end of the cord with the longer side of the cam and with the leverarm Ct. The cam thus operates to turn the arm with rapidity when the handle is first moved and afterward to hold it firmly while in contact withthe treadle. The pulleys c' are fixed in the box d, with guards Zadjacent to the same to hold the cord upon the pulley as the spiral cam is rotated. The pulleys j are fixed in ears at the bottom of the box, which ears project through the floorB of'the platform to lead the cords beneath the same in the direction of the arms a. Both ends of the car would be provided with the arms a and their actuating mechanism if the car were reversible, and the car in Fig. 1 is shown thus provided with arms at both ends, only one of those at the right-hand end being wholly visible, as both are'represented in an elevated position.

The handle may be'provided with looking devices, if desired; but I have not shown the same herein, as the essential part of my invention is the grooved cam having attached thereto a flexible connection with the shifting-arm a. The treadles I and J may be arranged one upon each side of the rail E, or both upon the outside, or both upon the inside, as shown in the drawings, and the arms a would be respectively arranged to strike the treadles I and J whatever their location beneath the car. Where the actuating-handle is arranged over a platform which is provided for the operator, it is obviously immaterial whether the handle be mounted upon the dashboard or otherwise sustained over the platform.

Having thus set forth the nature of my invention, what I claim herein is 1. The combination, with a car, of an arm pivoted beneath the frame of the car, means for holding the arm normally raised, a handle mounted over the platform of the car and provided with a cam, and a cord attached to the longer side of the cam and connected with the said arm, as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination, with a car, two arms a a, pivoted beneath the frame of the same, and means for holding the said arms normally raised, of the columnar box (I, secured upon the car-platform, the handles 0, pivoted within the box and provided with cams h upon their opposite sides, cords I), connecting the cams with the arms a, and the rollers j, projected through the platform, substantially as herein shown and described.

The combination, with a car, two armsa a, pivoted beneath the frame of the same, and

means for holding the said arms normally.

EDGAR D. STEWART.

\Vitnesses:

THOS. S. CRANE, HENRY J. MILLER. 

